The present invention relates to products for preventing the contraction and spread of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). More particularly, it deals with safety devices used by lab technicians to reduce the risks of accidental needle-pricks which are capable of spreading the disease.
History is filled with epidemics, such as the Black Plague, that have literally attacked thousands of people. AIDS is a modern epidemic that must be controlled. Appropriate steps to prevent contraction of the disease require education and safety measures.
AIDS is a disease caused by a virus that attacks the body's immune system, leaving it vulnerable to certain types of infections. It is the subsequent infection that will eventually kill the victim, not the AIDS disease. Once a victim becomes infected with the disease, he remains infectious for life. Groups typically struck by AIDS include young adults, but especially homosexuals and intravenous (IV) drug abusers.
At the present time there is no known certified cure for AIDS. Initially, public fear ran rampant with possible ways of contracting the disease, such as casual contact or through sneeze or cough droplets; however, there is no evidence to support this. Now it is recognized that AIDS can be transmitted only through sexual intercourse with an infected partner; through contact with contaminated needles or syringes; or exposure to infected blood or blood products.
Because AIDS can be transmitted by needles and syringes which contain the virus, great care must be exercised by health-care professionals to prevent accidental needle-prick injuries when working with potentially infectious blood samples. If a health-care professional, such as a lab technician, is working with a vial that contains an AIDS sample and he accidentally scrapes himself with a contaminated needle that contains a sample from that vial, he runs the risk of catching AIDS. Because these health-care professionals are subject to the same fears as the public at large and because they may work with many potentially infectious blood samples on a daily basis, extra precautions are necessary to prevent their contraction of AIDS and to alleviate their fears.
There are many test-tube holders that stand independently and permit vials to be stored. However, none of them can be hand-held conventiently to draw blood from a stored vial without the fear of needle-pricks.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,176 to Adams allows multiple test tubes to be placed in a rack and is capable of being hand-held. It also has both an upper ledge or "shield" and two side ledges. These ledges, however, afford little protection to the user. For instance, if this test-tube rack is hand-held, with the hand placed on the outer side of ledges, the user's hand is still exposed to the risk of needle-pricks. Should his needle miss the test tube and strike the "shield", it is possible for the needle to continue along the "shield" until it strikes the user's hand.
Although this rack is capable of being grasped from underneath, therefore providing protection from needle-pricks, it was not designed as such and would be awakard to use in that manner. For example, lifting and returning the test-tube holder would require the user to first grasp it with his hand on the outside and then transfer it to his other hand, which would grasp it from the underneath.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved test-tube holder which overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.
It is a general object to provide a test-tube holder that prevents lab technicians from contracting AIDS through accidental needle-pricks during removal of a blood sample from a vial which contains an AIDS sample; this will alleviate his fears so that he may be better able to concentrate on his assigned task.
It is still another object to provide a clear test-tube holder which allows the user to actually see the amount remaining in the vial without removing the vial or tilting the test-tube holder.
It is yet another object to allow the user to physically manipulate the vials while the vials are in their appropriate shaft. Because the user can press the vial against the back of the shaft, he can hold the vial steady while he attempts to insert and remove the needle.
The above and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent when the following description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.